Editors’ Collection

Our Best Birthday Cakes

Celebrate your favorite person with these delicious birthday cakes from NYT Cooking.

Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Yossy Arefi.

Recipes

Classic White Cake
Yossy Arefi
240 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
240
2 hours 20 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Layer Cake
Claire Saffitz
1156 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
1,156
2¼ hours
or to save this recipe.
Rainbow Sprinkle Cake
Julia Moskin, Candace Nelson
4425 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
4,425
1½ hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Strawberry Layer Cake
Lisa Donovan
194 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
194
2 hours 40 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Carrot Cake
Dorie Greenspan
10839 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
10,839
1 hour 30 minutes, plus at least 15 minutes' refrigeration
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Birthday Cake
Eric Kim
388 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
388
1 hour 20 minutes, plus cooling and chilling
or to save this recipe.
Strawberry Lemonade Cake
Yossy Arefi
1013 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
1,013
90 minutes, plus 50 minutes cooling and chilling
or to save this recipe.
Princess Cake
Nicola Lamb
291 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
291
About 3 hours
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Easy Chocolate Cake
Yossy Arefi
1402 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
1,402
About 2 hours
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate-Chocolate Birthday Cake
Dorie Greenspan
3368 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
3,368
Baking and cooling: About 3 hours
or to save this recipe.
Rum-Raisin Carrot Cake
Vaughn Vreeland
238 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
238
2¼ hours
or to save this recipe.
Baked Alaska
Lidey Heuck
132 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
132
About 7 hours 20 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Southern Red Velvet Cake
Kim Severson, Adams Extract Company
3564 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
3,564
1 hour
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Birthday Cake Butter Mochi
Sara Bonisteel, Sheldon Simeon
899 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
899
1 hour 15 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Vanilla Cake
Lidey Heuck
430 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
430
1 hour and 50 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Strawberry and Cream Layer Cake
Claire Saffitz
2430 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,430
2 hours
or to save this recipe.
Coconut Layer Cake
Melissa Clark, Larissa Raphael
1728 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
1,728
2 hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Yellow Sheet Cake With Chocolate Frosting
Erin Jeanne McDowell
2117 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,117
45 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Gluten-Free Yellow Sheet Cake
Brian Levy
94 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
94
1 hour 10 minutes, plus cooling (or 3 hours with frosting)
or to save this recipe.
Southern Caramel Cake
Millie Peartree
1996 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,996
50 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Classic Birthday Cake
Alison Roman
2294 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,294
About 1 hour 15 minutes plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Hawaiian Guava Cake
Kiera Wright-Ruiz, Alana Kysar
1411 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,411
50 minutes, plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Lemon Cupcakes
Samantha Seneviratne
249 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
249
40 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Easy
Cardamom Cream Cake
Melissa Clark
971 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
971
2½ hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Black Forest Cake
Samantha Seneviratne
1088 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,088
1½ hours, plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Seis Leches Cake
Melissa Clark
1824 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,824
1 hour, plus cooling and chilling
or to save this recipe.
Blackout Cake
The New York Times, Ebinger’s
2289 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,289
3 hours plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Sponge Cake
Claire Saffitz
2130 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,130
50 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Ambrosia Cake
Melissa Clark
500 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
500
3 hours
or to save this recipe.
Hummingbird Cake
Vallery Lomas
1782 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,782
1 hour
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Tres Leches Cake
Margaux Laskey, Odette Williams
722 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
722
50 minutes, plus soaking
or to save this recipe.
Magnolia Bakery’s Cupcakes
Susan Campos
3473 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
3,473
About 45 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Cranberry-Lemon Stripe Cake
Tejal Rao, Yotam Ottolenghi, Helen Goh
561 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
561
2 hours, plus baking/cooling
or to save this recipe.
Devil's Food White-Out Cake
Emily Weinstein, Dorie Greenspan
294 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
294
1 hour 40 minutes, plus 1 hour's refrigeration
or to save this recipe.
Milk and Honey Cake
Melissa Clark, Odette Williams
1361 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,361
1¼ hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Ruth Reichl’s Giant Chocolate Cake
Kim Severson, Ruth Reichl
2264 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
2,264
1½ hours
or to save this recipe.
Red Velvet Cupcakes
Millie Peartree
660 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
660
45 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Church Cake
Lisa Donovan
1906 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,906
1 hour, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Flourless Chocolate Cake
Genevieve Ko
4435 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
4,435
1 hour 15 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Easy
Peach-Raspberry Ice Cream Cake
Samantha Seneviratne
334 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
334
1 hour, plus 8 hours' chilling
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Hazelnut Crepe Cake
Samantha Seneviratne
465 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
465
2 hours, plus 4 hours' chilling
or to save this recipe.
Lisbon Chocolate Cake
Dorie Greenspan
5035 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
5,035
About 1 hour, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Spumoni Ice Cream Cake
Ali Slagle
868 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
868
50 minutes, plus 6 hours’ freezing
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Chestnut Cake
David Tanis, Alice Medrich
482 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
482
1 hour
or to save this recipe.
Birthday Baked Alaska
Dorie Greenspan, Zoë François
682 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
682
About 1 hour, plus at least 7 hours’ freezing
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate-Cherry Cake
Eric Kim
561 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
561
1 hour, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Orange Creamsicle Ice Cream Cake
Ali Slagle
783 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
783
20 minutes, plus 2 hours’ freezing
or to save this recipe.
Easy
Texas Sheet Cake
Genevieve Ko
1274 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,274
45 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
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